All about Cats and Wands
by Poemzie the Phoenix
Summary: Ophelia is a daughter a of a Squib and a Muggle and strange things seem to happen when she's around. Doing magic is definitely NOT her thing, at least, not conscious magic... Maybe it is a family thing?
1. The Birthday

**Disclaimer:  
**I don't own Harry Potter or anything from his world. Ophelia is mine, but anyone, including JK Rowling may feel free to use her character.

**A/N**: I Want to thank my wonderful beta in advance. I will never be as good as Snapeseraphin is, but well, I can live with that ;-)

The Birthday

Where was she? Just a minute ago she still was in her room!  
Peter Bramble looked at the chair were his daughter sat only minutes ago. And there was that wretched cat again! Maria found the cat in Ophelia room a couple of years ago, and everytime she threw the cat out, Pheli managed to get outside to go and look for it. Once, when she was only six, she went out in her pajamas and on her bare feet in the snow. They found her after 15 minutes, her feet were almost blue and she could only say 'Kitty, kitty'. That was when they surrendered, the cat could stay. They didn't see it much, they sometimes wondered what the cat ate, since they didn't feed it, and Maria once even said the cat used magic to get his food, but she wasn't serious… How could she be?  
He sighed. Magic had once been part of his life, but when he married Maria his family had to ban him. Not that they could do anything with him before his marriage…

He was a Squib, that's as good as a muggle. Maybe even worse, since muggles didn't even know of the wizarding world.  
From baby on he watched if Ophelia showed any signs of magic, but she never did. Ophelia with her beautiful green eyes and black hair. Even the white stripe in her hair should have been a sign of magical abilities, but now with her eleventh Birthday coming up she hadn't shown anything, and maybe that was best for everyone, since he never told Maria where he actually came from…

He shuddered and turned around to go to the dining room were dinner was ready.

* * *

Ophelia showed up minutes later and sat down at the table.  
"Honey, where were you?" -"Where I was daddy?" She asked, looking slightly irritated "I was up in my room, I was snoozing on the bed" Peter look bewildered "I was just there, I didn't see you!" -'Well, I'm not invisible you know, maybe you should try some glasses" Ophelia was now visibly irritated. They had this discussion a couple of times a month, she wondered how it was possible he couldn't see her… "I don't need glasses! You weren't there!" –"But daddy!" -"STOP IT!"  
Maria had just walked into the developing fight. "Why are you two always fighting? Just leave it alone" Maria muttered something to herself about fathers, daughters and their stubbornness. "Now come and eat' 

They sat and ate for a while and started chatting about school when suddenly the conversation got an irritable tinge to it again. "Well Pheli, where are you planning to go after the summer?" Peter asked. "Daddy, I've told you at least 25 times, I don't know! I just don't want to go to the same school as my classmates. I want to go  
somewhere where people won't say anything about my hair" Ophelia said, sounding somewhat sad. "Unless I van finally dye my hair? Mommy?"  
-"Honey, we talked about that, not untill you're sixteen!" Maria said "But now we have to decide for a school. Two weeks after you got eleven your new school has to be notified. You know that!" -"Yeah mom, I know" She sighed "Let's go over the schools tonight then, okay?"

* * *

Ophelia woke up with a strange feeling. Why was she so happy? Then it dawned on her, it was her birthday!  
It was a Saturday so they would come and wake her up very soon now, and have a big breakfast together. She would get presents, the mail would arrive with nice birthday cards from her family and, best of all, this afternoon they would go shopping for new school things! She always liked shopping and ever since they had decided she would go to her mothers old school she wanted to get it over with. So this afternoon they would buy the uniform, the books and all she would need. 

While she was thinking the sun started to come up and she heard her parents getting up. They tiptoed past her bedroom door and she heard the stairs creaking. They were going to make breakfast for her, and her mother would suddenly come up with a cake topped with whipped cream and Ophelia would have to blow out the candles. She liked birthdays, but she could never get used to getting all the attention. She liked it most when her relatives were all sitting in the living room and she could silently enjoy their conversations. Before that she would have to endure several ants and uncles from her mothers side who would keep saying she was such a big girl now and how may hearts she would break. She had never met any family from her fathers side. He never said anything about them, but she knew they were still alive because she once heard her parents arguing about them. Her mother was saying something about grandparents who had a right to know ther  
granddaughter. But when they saw her they immediately stopped, so she didn't know why she actually never met them. Aah, there they were. She heard the stairs creaking again. Now she would have to pretend to be sleeping, or else they would be disappointed and would think they had awoken her. So she turned over  
and closed her eyes.

* * *

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Ophelia, happy birthday to you!" 

Ophelia turned to her parents and looked sleepily at them. " What time is it mum? Do we have to go yet?" –" No dear" her mother said " We'll go in about two hours, first we'll have breakfast together and unwrap your presents!" Ophelia quickly dressed and went down the stairs. She opened the door… And she couldn't believe her eyes! "Wow! Mum, Dad! What a beautiful owl!"  
Her parents who were coming behind her looked at each other with surprise. "Which owl, dear?" her mother said, while Ophelia ran into the living room. Her father suddenly looked a bit pale.

When she reached the table she expected the owl to be scared, but it just looked at her, picked up an envelope and seemed to be handing it over to her. Ophelia took the envelope and looked at it. It seemed to be made of parchment and there was no address, just "Miss Ophelia Bramble" written with a fountain pen or something like that. The envelope was sealed with a crest and Ophelia read the text aloud:  
"Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus"

**CRASH**

Ophelia whirled around and saw her father scrambling up again. "Daddy? What's wrong?" –"Peter? What happened? Why do you look so scared?" Maria said. Peter blinked a few times, he opened his mouth a few times, but closed it again. After a minute he gestured at the envelope and Ophelia gave it to him.He sat down and stared at it for a while. Then he started to speak


	2. Meeting new people

**Disclaimer:**  
I don't own Harry Potter or anything from his world. Ophelia is mine, but anyone, including JK Rowling may feel free to use her character.

**A/N:** Many thanks to the webmasters of The Harry Potter Lexicon, it is really a great source of information! Also thanks to my Beta Snapeseraphin who is simply wonderful!  
In this story I will be referring to other fanfics, it's a sort of ode to them, I'll name them in my author's note for the next chapter!

**Thanks for your review:**

paprika90: I like you! That really is a compliment, Ophelia isn't supposed to be a Mary Sue indeed, she's another character who has her problems and her good things. I want her to be a bit like those of the 'Golden Trio' and due to a good friend she'll meet there will be a dynamic duo, but their adventures will be quite different...  
Snapeseraphin: Lol! I like cliffies! You taught me about those! I think you will recognize someone, and won't like what I've done to him, but be patient, you'll see why I did something as gruesome as that...

* * *

Meeting new people

Ophelia was walking through London accompanied by her parents. They were told where they could park their car and how to walk after that, but after walking the street up and down three times they still hadn't found the pub where they were supposed to meet Mr. Pudgley. Mr. Pudgley was a wizard who was supposed to escort them to a pub called the Leaky Cauldron which also should be situated in this street according to her dad, but neither one of them could locate it. And without Mr. Pudgley, Pheli was sure she wouldn't make it on time to the test.

They decided to take a seat at a street bench. Just as they sat down a man clad in bright orange robes approached them. Her mother shook her head and started saying they were not interested in Sai Baba when the man started talking to Peter.

"Well, if that isn't Peter Bramble! Have never met you of course, but you look an awful lot like your dear old father! How's the old man doing? And what a lovely wife and daughter! You're here for the yearly test?

A girl with that hair should be one of us, you can see that! In history of magic we learned Salazar Slytherin's wife had a white stripe in her raven-black hair. But of course Rowena Ravenclaw had that as well! Who knows! You might even be an heir to one of them! But we will find out at Hogwarts. Oh, look at the time; you'll be tested in five minutes from now. Well shall we go then?"

Peter stared at him and finally asked "Who are you?"

"Well, Willard Pudgley of course! I'm to escort you to Olivander's! Mind you Mr. Olivander has an excellent student who's nearly ready to start on his own or maybe take over the business! Maybe your daughter will even be tested by him! Yes, this young man has a bright future in front of him: every wizard needs a wand and he seems to have a nice talent to select the right type of wand. The wands he's handed out seem to agree with their wizards as never before!

He marvelled at Herbology when he was at Hogwarts and ever since he started at Olivander's he developed a feeling for the treatment of the wood he uses for a wand.

And the combinations he comes up with are great. He uses different cores from creatures all over the world, he has an excellent feeling for the use of the core. Mr Olivander will be stepping back very soon now I think he has earned quite an amount of money and has been saying he needs a vacation."

While the man kept rambling they walked over to a house and suddenly he held a door open. A door to a house Ophelia had not seen while walking up and down the street. She wondered how that was possible.

Inside it was quite dark, but it was crowded. People in normal clothes mingled with people who were clad in large robes. Pheli started to giggle when she noticed a tall dark man in black robes with black hair at chin length. To her he looked like he was wearing a dress! He seemed to be busy talking to a grumpy looking old man with short silvery hair. Suddenly the man turned and stared threateningly at her. The giggles stopped instantly and Pheli felt a chill running down her spine.

"Ah little miss! I see you've discovered our Hogwarts Potions Master!

If you pass the test, he will be one of your Professors! He's one of the finest teachers you can get, although he's not really easy on his students... But we'll meet him again very soon. Well, let's get going now, no time to loose!

It took me a while to recognize you on the street. Would be a lot easier to have something on you, which I could recognize you people with; all people in Muggle clothes over there, how am I supposed to know the difference?"

While he was talking, Pudgley led them trough the back door of the pub, where there was nothing but a wall. He took out a wooden stick of some kind and tapped it against the wall at different places. They stood there, and nothing happened.

"Well Mr. Pudgley? I thought you were leading us somewhere?" asked Maria.

"I don't know! Oh wait... I know. How could I be so stupid" He seemed to mutter to himself. He tapped the wall again, now at other places and suddenly the bricks seemed to back away before them and through the hole a whole new world appeared and Ophelia was reminded of this morning when a different world was revealed to her as well.

* * *

_"I never told you this Maria, and certainly not you Ophelia. Maybe I should have, but I hoped I would never have to." Peter began. Ophelia and Maria looked at each other and both sat down too. Peter had never behaved like this before, so they knew he was serious._

_He didn't look at anything else but the envelope, he seemed to think hard. _

_"I don't know where to begin, but… There is a reason we never had any contact with my parents. They are wizards, and I'm… Not."_

_Maria and Ophelia wanted to speak but stayed silent when he moved his hand._

_"Wizards are real. Not all the ones from the fairy tales, but some are real. The fairy godmother from Cinderella really existed. Her name was Cornelia Pumpkins. The wicked stepmother was married to her brother and she desperately wanted Cinderella to have a bright future away from the evil place. But the wicked stepmother took her revenge and had Cornelia burnt on one of the first witch hunts. That's when the Wizarding world decided to retreat and never interfere again with the non-magical world, also known as the Muggle world."_

_"Maria," he said to his wife, "You are a Muggle. I was supposed to be a wizard. My father is a pure-blood wizard, as was my mother. They were cousins. They didn't love each other, but they had to marry at a very young age to make sure the bloodline was preserved. I was their only son. But after a few years I turned out to be a non-magical person, a Squib!" _

_Maria and Ophelia still looked clueless, but didn't say anything. Peter went on with his story. "This was of course a big disappointment to the Malfoys and the Brambles because I was supposed to be the great ancestor of the Brambles. And of course a little of the Malfoys. The latter were convinced it was a 'Bramble'-problem, the Brambles themselves were certain it was something of a Malfoy problem."_

_"What do you mean with that family problem?" Maria asked. "Well, in the Wizarding world it's a disgrace if you're a Squib and it's even worse to be the parents of a Squib. And none of the families could have that disgrace so they were blaming each other of having foul blood." Peter explained. "Of course they couldn't bring this out in the open, so my parents were forced to move to the United States as long as I was still young and would not have been able to do much magic anyway. We returned to London when I was 21. They gave me £500.000 and asked me to move to another part of the UK and never contact them again. I know it may sound very harsh, but this actually means they loved me. In a pure blood family a Squib usually dies young in an 'accident', if you know what I mean."_

_"I was lucky since my parents got the opportunity to move. They set up their own business and got rich very quickly in the United States and gave me a normal, even loving childhood. They kept in contact with their family of course, but they told their family I stayed in the US and lived like a Muggle. They gave me the money to make sure I would have a good life, and begged me never to contact them again because that would mean we would all be killed in an instant."_

_"They had to move back here because the dark lord Voldemort had been temporarily defeated and the family needed their money to make sure everything of his properties was saved. That way my parents gained the respect from their families again and could live safely in the UK."_

_"Daddy, why would they want to live here again?" Ophelia asked "I don't think I would want to live near that family ever again."_

_"It was not that simple, Pumpkin" Peter answered "When they lived in the United states they met American wizards and became friends. They decided to turn to the good side if they would ever be called back to the UK. And of course they were…They went back because they thought they had to, but I was a problem for them. That's why they made the family believe I stayed in the United States and lived like a Muggle. I couldn't come with them, that's what they said to me. _

_But I wanted to go. I knew the consequences, but I wanted to be close to them anyway. I still loved them."_

_"Peter, why are you speaking in the past tense?" Maria asked._

_"Three years ago someone sent me the Daily Prophet, the paper in the Wizarding world: in it was an article about my parents, it said they had been a spy for the Ministry of Magic and they had been caught by the followers of Voldemort. My mother might even be killed by her own brother, Lucius Malfoy. But it seems the war is over, the mysterious disappearing of non-magic folk is over."_

_Ophelia said: "Daddy it's all too confusing, who is Voldemort? Why were my grandparents helping him? And is there really a Ministry of Magic? And what has this to do with me? Why am I getting a letter from them?"_

_"I can imagine its confusing dear. Maybe we should just go and see what's in the letter, maybe we'll have one question answered. Because your daddy will have a lot to explain!" Maria said while taking the letter and giving it to Ophelia._

_Ophelia opened up the envelope and started to read aloud:_

_Dear Miss Bramble,_

_As you of course know your father comes from a family of powerful wizards. Since we haven't heard of any magical activities around your village we would like to test your abilities. If you show magical abilities we would like to invite you to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to train the abilities you have. You could start your first year in September of this year._

_The test will take place at the atelier of Mr. Olivander, located at Olivander's in Diagon Alley and will also be taken by Mr. Olivander._

_This will all take place at the 5th June at 14.00h._

_We trust you will be attending this meeting together with your parents, so you can get your school things immediately when you turn out to be a witch. Mr. Pudgley from the Ministry of Magic will await you in front of The Leaky Cauldron which is marked on the map you will also find in this envelope._

_A list of supplies will be handed over at the testing area when you've passed._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_(On behalf of the Headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore)_

* * *

"Pheli, are you coming?" Maria called. Pheli woke from her daydream and started to look around. People in strange clothes were now all around her. Some wore a wizard's hat and suddenly Pudgley started to look normal and they started to look like the ones with the weird clothes. People stopped and stared at the group and started whispering as soon as they had passed.

Pheli heard the name Malfoy and the name Bramble several times and saw people pointing at her hair.

She tried to ignore this and looked around. Strange looking bottles and artefacts in one store, animals in another store, in front of them a big white building. Willard Pudgley stopped in front of a little store. The sign said 'Olivander's'

"Well people, this is where we have to be, I'm going to bring you inside, and if I'm right one of the Hogwarts Professors will await you there. The test will be done by Mr. Olivander or one of his trainees. The Professor will see to the procedure and I will be off to get the next family!

Now, here you go, have fun, don't irritate anyone in there and I hope we won't have to Obliviate you!"

Still smiling Pudgley opened the door for them and they entered the shop.

Inside there were walls covered with stacks filled with little cardboard boxes. No one appeared to be there. "Hello?" called Maria.

Immediately they heard a bump and a muffled cry, and suddenly a head popped up from under a table. It was a young man, covered in dust and looking kind of dazed. His rather large front teeth showed when he smiled at them. "Hullo, my name is Neville Longbottom, how can I help you?"

"We're here to have the 14.00h test!" Peter said "Or actually, Ophelia is here for the test. We're just her parents; we don't have any magical abilities for certain."

"I'd be happy to test you too sir, its good practice. But you could never attend Hogwarts anymore I'm afraid. Maybe a Kwikspell course would help. If you have any magical abilities of course!" Neville said, still smiling.

Peter grinned "Thank you Mr. Longbottom, but I think any magic would have shown by now. Even though I have never been tested; they didn't have tests like this when I was young."

"Then we would do well to test you then, Sir," croaked a voice from the back of the store, "During the war we learned some people who we thought were a Squib, turned out to be wizards and they had been taught by the Dark Lord himself. My my, we had some trouble with them! Do you have any idea what a wizard can do when he's not registered, sir?"

The source of the voice revealed himself as an old wizard with bright white hair. He stepped up to Peter and introduced himself: "Olivander, at your service Mr. Bramble. I can remember your father, Holly 14". Quite a sturdy wand. And your mother was a Malfoy; they like to go to foreign countries to get their wands."

Ophelia stood and listened with awe. Her father had looked at Mr. Olivander in a rather peculiar way. She couldn't read his face. Then he smiled again.

"If you want to test me, be my guest, but we're here for Ophelia. She

has never shown any magical signs, but it seems you have reason to believe she's a witch, so at least give her the test. If she is a witch we will have to make sure she will get all her stuff, and since we don't have any way to get into Diagon Alley ourselves, we will have to get them today! So let's get it over with!" Peter said.

"I understand, Sir," Neville replied "Let's get back to the atelier, so we can perform the tests!"

He turned to Mr. Olivander and asked: "Do you want me to test Mr. Bramble or little Miss Bramble? We can perform the test together I think."

Olivander seemed to think a bit

"Mr. Longbottom, I think it would be best if I did Mr. Bramble myself, you will test Ophelia Bramble; I don't think there will be any problem. Please follow me! I think the Professor will be there already"

And Olivander turned and opened a door to a backroom. The others followed him into what turned out to be a quite large room filled with strange instruments. There was a table with something what looked like a Muggle workbench, but still different. Other strange instruments were mounted to the wall, and a lot of little boxes and jars were everywhere, all labelled in a firm handwriting. In the corner a tall man in dark robes stood, looking at a stack of boxes.

"Ah, Severus! How are you these days?" Olivander said while approaching the man. The dark robed man turned and Ophelia recognized the Potions Master of Hogwarts who had sent chills down her spine. He turned to Mr. Olivander and the corners of his mouth curled a bit. It was not enough for a smile, but he didn't look very threatening anymore. He shook hands with Olivander and the two men seemed to understand each other without talking.

Pheli noticed Neville seemed to look a bit nervous now, especially when he tried to walk over to a chair and managed to trip over his own feet. But when he spoke Neville's voice was steady.

"Here Professor, please sit down while I perform the test on Ophelia."

"Is it a test or a spell Mr. Longbottom? And are you quite sure this chair is any good? I think I've been molested enough while you were at Hogwarts... Turning me into a baby, into a student and into your grandmother were not the most pleasant experiences I had I'm afraid" Professor Snape said, but even though he said this in a sneering voice, Ophelia noticed his eyes didn't match his voice.

"Professor, you're not being very fair now, the incident of turning you into my grandmother did not involve you personally! I insist you take that back!" Neville's voice was quite stern now, but his eyes also didn't match his voice. They seemed to have a twinkle in them! Ophelia was confused. Neville saw the look on her face and smiled at her. "Now don't be shy! Come here now, before I completely ruin the Professor's reputation!"

Ophelia walked to the spot Neville was pointing at. "Isn't there anything I have to do besides standing here?" Ophelia wondered. From where she was standing she could see her daddy, Olivander was waving a kind of stick and suddenly silver sparkles emitted all around her father. "Well, that's that then," Olivander said, "I'm afraid you really are a Squib after all Mr. Bramble. The test never lies! Silver sparkles say there's no magic in you, if they had been gold you would have been a wizard. Quite simple actually. Now for the young lady. Neville, please proceed!"

Neville pulled another stick from his sleeve. He waved his wand in a strange pattern through the air while saying "Diagnosis Magika"

Suddenly a shower of sparkles surrounded Ophelia, She saw the main colour was gold, but there was a green shade to them. She wondered if that was normal, to her, this was not really gold.

Neville had stopped waving and looked surprised. "Maybe I did something wrong... Let me try again" He said and he started waving again.

"Diagnosis Magika" he yelled. Again a green-golden shade of sparkles surrounded Ophelia and she saw a frown appearing on Neville's forehead.

Neville turned to Mr. Olivander. "I don't understand, I'm doing this the way I always do it! I don't know what's wrong!"

Olivander smiled "You are doing nothing wrong Mr. Longbottom. It seems we have something very special here…weird, yes, but very special!"


	3. Wands!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing... I thought up Ophelia, but the world she lives in is property of the great JK Rowling!

Thanks for your reviews:

Paprika90 : Hmm, good idea! Neville and his friends are still in their twenties, but maybe some of the older Hogwarts students of their time already have children... :-)

Miss Piratess : Whoohoo! One of my favourite FFN authors reviews me! looks around Yep, really me! I love Neville too! He's the prototype of a nice guy! A bit clumsy, shy and sooooo nice! I've tried to make him a bit more confident now he's a bit older, but I also tried to keep those special characteristics. Neville will have a regular spot in my story, but others will cameo!

Neville James : Double woohoo! It was so wonderful to get your reviews! You are definately one of my favourites too! Love your story! But maybe I should keep that for my reviews? ;-) Time frame, well, as I said, Neville is in his mid-twenties now, lets say 25, enough time to have finished a study, not enough time to have settled already (for most people that is) Ideal for me, so I can go every way I want with them. About the other thing, well yes, Ophelia is a Malfoy deep down inside, so there is a big chance of being a Slytherin!But then again, I believe in Lucius' Malfoys innocence! (Read 'To Save a Malfoy' by Snapeseraphin, you'll understand what I mean!)

**A/N:**

Warm hugs to every reader! Reviews are very welcome! I'll give you chocolate frogs! winks

Snapeseraphin, you're the BEST beta ever, and have I ever told you I love you? ;-)

People, also read the stories of Miss Piratess and Neville James! Believe me, they have some absolutely GREAT stories!

* * *

**Wands!**

In Ophelia's head numerous thoughts were popping up and asking her attention. "Why am I special? Gold meant magic, so what's gold and green? Am I a witch? What would those girls from her class say if I really would be a witch? Maybe I could turn them into frogs? But I have never done something special, how could I be a witch then? Maybe you need a magic hat like magicians? Why is that teacher looking at me like that? Is that man really sticking his head in the fire?

While Ollivander was trying to contact Dumbledore, Severus Snape was observing Ophelia Bramble. The girl didn't look like her family at all. She was supposed to be a Malfoy, and all the Malfoys he knew had silvery blond hair. Now this girl had raven black hair, only a silver stripe in her hair showed her real nature. She was rather tall for her age, and she had inherited her face from her mother, who was not an exceptional beauty, but nice enough on the eyes. The girl was now looking rather unintelligent with a face that expressed surprise. When he followed her gaze he understood. Ollivander was still talking to Dumbledore with his head sticking into the fire. Seeing that the girl was raised as a Muggle she probably wouldn't understand what he was doing. Severus decided to try and talk to her.

"Miss Bramble, maybe you would care to close your mouth? It's getting rather cold here." Severus said. Ophelia slowly closed her mouth. Severus looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and started speaking.

"Before your jaw is refusing to function again, I'll explain a few things to you Miss Bramble. Mr. Ollivander is now talking to Professor Dumbledore who is the headmaster of Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry. He's talking through a fire which is a perfectly normal way to communicate for wizards, just like you use a telephone to reach your family. Albus Dumbledore will arrive shortly by that same fire to see if you really are a mage, which we suspect."

Ophelia's face was full of surprise. "A mage? What's a mage?"

Severus sighed "We will have to educate you a bit about wizards I think. A mage is anatural magician or wizard, and in most cases very powerful. Most intelligent vampires avoid them. They're also called a master magician; who prefers that the only tools of their magic be their mind, ability, and spirit." Severus got up and walked towards Ophelia who seemed a bit intimidated by him. "If you will be sorted into my house I will personally take care of your education as a mage, and that's a promise! Merlin knows I need a new challenge after Potter left Hogwarts"

At that moment the fire flashed green and an old wizard with a long white beard stepped out of the fire. "Ah, Ollivander's... What memories have I left here," he said, while dusting off his long colourful robes. Then he looked straight at Ophelia "You must be Miss Bramble? I've heard some nice things about you! But let us start with some questions!"

Dumbledore waved with his wand and 2 fluffy chairs appeared. "Please sit down Miss Bramble. Now, have you ever noticed you have magical powers?"

"Uh no, sorry sir" Ophelia said. "No harm done!" Dumbledore said. "I'll just do my little test. Please stand up!" And he performed a little jiggly wiggly motion with his wand, golden, silver and green sparks came from his wand. The sparks surrounded Ophelia and started to whirl around her. A zooming sound occurred, the sparks whirled faster and faster and the sound became high pitched. Ophelia felt her feet lift from the floor and her arms automatically stretched next to her body. Suddenly the high pitched sound changed into a high kind of music. It sounded like a thousand little birds singing their beautiful song. Ophelia closed her eyes and let it all happen.

Maria looked at Ophelia in awe. Her little girl was glittering all over. Sparks formed all kinds of animals; she saw a rabbit, a sea horse, a hummingbird, and a cat, which looked strangely familiar. Suddenly a thought struck to her. No, it couldn't be, could it? She turned to the man in the long dark robes. "Sir? Could it be Ophelia? I mean, the cat, could it be Ophelia?" Severus Snape frowned "I'm afraid I don't understand you Mrs. Bramble. Could what cat be Ophelia?" Maria looked again at the cat which now sat on Ophelia's shoulder, fishing with its paw to get flying sparks. "Well, Ophelia always had a cat around, but we never actually saw them together. But when we couldn't find her, we always found the cat, sleeping in her room, or sitting on her windowsill. This cat is the same, they have the same markings"

"It is highly unlikely for her to be an Animagus, a natural one even! It costs people years to learn to turn into an animal, and even then some don't manage to complete it. But then again, this is an extra-ordinary girl, who knows what she's capable of, even when she doesn't know she does it." Severus Snape said, more to himself than to Maria.

The sparkles began to fade and they all could see Ophelia, now sitting in the fluffy chair again, eyes closed.

Professor Dumbledore was humming happily to himself while he was writing something down. Maria and Peter rushed to the girl. "Are you all right?"

Ophelia opened her eyes "Mummy! Did you hear the music? Have you seen the animals? I've dreamt about all of them before! I knew them!"

Peter and Maria turned to Dumbledore who smiled brightly at them. "You have a daughter to be proud of! Not only has she been doing very advanced magic ever since she has been born, she also managed to hide this from the Muggle world, and even her parents! She has the capability to turn into several animals although she seems to prefer the form of a cat. She does this without noticing, mostly when she is asleep or very relaxed. Just now I put a spell on her, which caused her to be relaxed and her animals showed themselves under the spell. They are a second nature to her, just like; well going to the toilet is for us. This all comes forth from her being a mage, which means she is probably a very powerful witch, but will need extra attention to learn to use her abilities.

Bottom line is: she's a witch, and we will welcome her at Hogwarts if you will allow her to come!"

Peter and Maria looked at each other. Maria spoke first "Do you think we should?" Her face did not show her own thoughts about it. Peter shook his head. "I don't know yet. It's such a strange world. I noticed it again when we entered Diagon Alley, I don't belong here." Now Maria's face changed. "You might not belong here... But Ophelia does, I feel it in my heart. I want her to have a choice! She can always choose to return to our world! And it's not like we won't see her again. Is it, professor? Maria turned to Dumbledore who smiled. "Even wizards and witches need holidays, so yes, Ophelia could come home every holiday, just like at Muggle schools.'

"I still have doubts" Peter said "I've seen the fear, my parents were so afraid... And they were not alone, everyone was afraid; this whole world was filled with fear and mistrust. Who can ensure me this doesn't happen again? How can I know my girl is safe? I won't know if something like this happens again, I'm as good as a Muggle; I live in the Muggle world! Every time something strange happens, if people go missing, I will think it has started again! And how should I contact her then?"

"I understand you concern, Mr. Bramble" Dumbledore said. "And it is justified of course. We can never ensure you something like this won't happen again. But then again, the same will go for the Muggle world. You will never know if she is safe, not at Hogwarts, but not at any Muggle school either. You might consider buying an owl for Ophelia so you can keep in touch with her, that is, if you decide to let her come to us. Of course that is entirely your decision."

"May I add a couple of little facts for you Mr. Bramble?" said Snape while looking at him directly. "If you decide not to place her at Hogwarts, her memory of today will have to be erased. That means she won't know of her magical abilities until you decide to tell her why all these strange things keep happening to her. What will she say at age eighteen if she discovers she has all the magical abilities and she doesn't know how to use them? Will it be safe if she starts trying things herself?"

Suddenly the atmosphere seemed to change, it seemed like the air got heavy and some boxes started to rattle. Neville, who had been silent up until now gave a little yelp. Then his face changed and a look of determination came on his face. "Protectus!" He shouted and pointed his wand at Ophelia. Instantly everything stopped and Ophelia was catched in some sort of red bubble.

"What did you do to her!' Peter roared and he tried to lift up Neville by his robe, which was rather difficult since Neville was quite a bit taller than Peter.

"This is just what we were talking about Mr. Bramble, now, if you would please let go of Mr. Longbottom? I will explain." Severus Snape said. Peter stepped back, still glaring at Neville. "Now Neville, I think it's safe to lift up the spell now, she seems to have cooled down a bit" Snape said. Neville muttered something and waved vaguely with his wand at her. The bubble popped and Ophelia was free again. Snape turned to her and said: "You can have your turn, I promise, but first I'll have to tell your father what happened just now." Ophelia nodded and Snape turned to Peter.

"This was exactly what you can expect in the future. Maybe you even have experienced something like this before at home when Ophelia was extremely frustrated about something. This was magic. She does not have any control over it and I think that Mr. Ollivanders shop would not have lasted if Mr. Longbottom would not have laid a protective shield around your daughter. This shield absorbed all the magic she was sending out and if one had been attacking her it would also have protected her from magical threats." Severus Snape drew a deep breath "This situation will occur more and more when she is growing up. Being a teenager is hard for anyone, and if she will not learn to control herself she will be a threat to herself. She could easily set things on fire and not be able to save herself. And she could unwillingly hurt others with her powers." Severus sighed, looked at the floor and then back to Peter. "Do you understand now why I think it would be better if she would come to Hogwarts? Miss Bramble, you had something to say also, I believe?"

Pheli, who had been listening to Severus Snape quietly, walked directly up to her parents. "I want to go to this school. I have always known I was different, even if it was deep down inside. I also want to learn to control this, I love you too much, and I never want to hurt you, even if I don't hurt you on purpose. These people know how to help me. Do you remember when we were picking schools? When we came across that school for talented musicians you said you would have let me go there if I wanted to. To me, this is the same! I have a talent and I want to use it!"

Peter sighed and sat down. He stared into nothing for a moment or two and then sighed again. He looked at Ophelia and said: "Okay, if you really want this I can't stop you. And your mother is right, you should have the right to choose. But I still think the wizarding world is a far more dangerous world than our Muggle world, and I hate to be the one to allow you to plunge into it headfirst. Only if you promise me to be very, very careful I can... "

"Daddy, I promise!" Ophelia said while a radiant smile was spreading over her face. Dumbledore smiled too "Here's a list of things you need for school, you still have some time left before the shops close. May I suggest an owl too? Muggle postmen don't know how to find Hogwarts! "

"And may I have the honour of selling you one of my own wands?" Neville said to Ophelia "Í have been working on some for people who have a strong bond with nature. I'd love to try some out on you!"

"Eeuhm, what do wands cost here?" Maria asked Neville. "For her only 3 galleons Mrs. Bramble!" -"Galleons? What's that? We only have pounds!"

"Well" said Mr. Ollivander "You'll have to change it then... Gringotts is just down the street, that big white building. Maybe the little Miss can stay here and try some wands while you go and change?"

"Ah, Severus, let us go with them for a bit and then go into the Leaky Cauldron, I fancy a butterbeer!" Dumbledore said. Severus Snape looked as if he didn't like the idea, but he nodded nevertheless. "We'll see you at school then Miss Bramble, goodbye."

Pheli watched her parents leave together with the two professors and at the same time Mr. Ollivander said to Neville that he would go to the back again, since he wasn't needed here anymore.

Now it was only her and that Neville guy. She didn't trust him anymore after he had put her in that bubble, but then again, he looked all right... And she wasn't hurt after all. She decided he got another chance, after all her parents were coming back in a few minutes!

"Now, let's go back to the store, there I have some wands for you." Neville said picking up some boxes here and there.

"How do you know when a wand is good for me?" Pheli asked him "I don't know how to do magic, so I can't do spells, can I?"

Neville laughed "Well, actually you can... You just need the right wand for you. But selecting the right wand will be the tricky part, you know. It's not you who chooses the wand, but the wand chooses you! You will know instantly when you are chosen, and it will be visible as well. From that instant you'll know how to use the magic, because you feel it. At least that's how it was with me. Until I chose my first wand I had only used instinctive magic, but the moment I got my wand I felt it in my body. It still took a lot of practising before I learned to control it of course, but that was because I just felt better with plants and herbs... "

They were back in the store now and Neville started to collect boxes from shelves and piling them up on the table.

"Practising? I think I will need more than that. "Pheli said while looking doubtful "I never even knew I could do magic. Every time I turned into an animal I thought I was dreaming. Even that thing just now, when you put that spell over me, I didn't know I was doing magic. Now I know it was me doing it, and that explains why my classmates never knew of those earthquakes. My parents just thought we lived on one of those cracks in the earth!"

Neville started laughing freely now "Did they actually think that? Your father should have known better! But then again, how often do a Squib and a Muggle get a witch for a daughter? By the way, you shouldn't worry about not knowing any magic. In my year there was a boy who lived in a Muggle home until he started Hogwarts, he didn't know anything, and he turned out just fine... He's also a good friend of mine, Harry Potter! You will learn enough about him in the coming few years, since he is the one who defeated Voldemort!"

Ophelia looked blankly at Neville.

"O well" Neville said "You'll understand soon enough! Let's start with the wands."

He handed her a knobbly wand, the wood was almost black and felt heavy in her hands. "What am I supposed to do with it?" She asked. Neville took the wand back "You'll know when you get the one for you!" The following wand was red and Neville told her it was made of cherrywood and had a core of Manticorehair. She didn't notice any changes with this one either. They did fifteen wands like this and Pheli started to get a bit tired. And where were her parents? They should have been back by now!

Neville handed her the following wand. "This is one of the first wands I made. I thought I was making it for myself, because the wood attracted me so much. This is rosewood that has been through a fire, but instead of getting back to its normal colour it remained black, shiny black. The core exists of a hair of a sphinx and the wand is treated in a bath of special herbs. Careful now!" He said while handing it to her. And the moment her right hand closed on the wand she knew. A power flowed through her and she waved the wand. A shower of white sparks left the tip of the wand and a smell of lilies surrounded them. This was her wand!

Neville sighed "I knew I would have to say goodbye to it sometime." He started to pick up the remaining boxes and promptly tripped over one on the ground so the boxes flew everywhere. Pheli instantly felt guilty. "If you rather want to keep this one I'll find another one. Surely between all these wands there are other wands that fit me?" She put the wand back on the table.

"In theory yes, but that will not work as long as this wand works. Only when this wand, which has bonded itself with you, has been broken, another one will bond with you. And I don't want it back, each wand is unique as every person is unique, and I see it as a compliment that I could make a wand that fits you! "

"What do you mean by that?" Pheli looked at Neville curiously. "Well" he answered "You are the first witch who has such strong mental powers at such a young age, and it was not very certain you could even work with a wand… "

Ophelia wanted to ask why it was not certain she could work with a wand, but at that moment her parents returned to the store. She noticed her father looked tired, and her mother was looking inquiringly at her.

"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Bramble, I trust it did all work out? The Goblins changed your money? " Neville asked. "No they didn't!" Peter answered "But here are the three galleons. Could you wrap it please?"

"Daddy, why didn't they change the money?"

"Pheli, there was no need for that" Peter answered "Because you already seem to have an account at Gringotts!"


End file.
